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28 weeker tires easily

My daughter was born at 28 weeks and is now 37 weeks gestational and finally home. She is bottle fed with half breast milk and half formula (my supply couldn't keep up with only the pump).
I want to start breastfeeding her, but transitioning her has me worried. We have to keep her feedings to 30 minutes or she'll use up more calories then she takes in, so my question is how does that go with getting her to breastfeeding? Right now I offer her the breast for no more then 10 minutes and then bottle feed her to ensure she doesn't get worn out.

If I offer her the breast for non-nutritive sucking will that wear her out or is that easier for her? How do you handle this time restriction with preemies? How does feeding on demand work if she's only allowed to eat for 30 minutes? I want to increase my supply enough that I can exclusively breast feed her but I don't want her to become worn out and be unable to take in enough calories.

I am sorry I have so many questions, I just want to do what's best for her! Any help would be appreciated!

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

I'm not sure how it works with preemies, but who told you that you had to limit her feeding at the breast to 30 minutes? The more you get her to the breast, the more milk you will make. I would give her the breast as often and as long as she desires. If she falls asleep, that's okay!! Babies do that! Typically babies will eat at the breast, fall asleep for a few hours and wake up later to do the same thing!! It's totally normal. I've never heard of someone being told to "limit the amount of time" to keep her from "getting worn out", it just sounds counter productive to me. . .

Hi, I'm Cyndie. Married my , Tony.

Lydia--15 mo and still nursing

Brenden--6.5 yo bf for 6 months

Preston (SS)--13.5 yo

Brittany--12.5 yo bf for 6 weeks

"You are not a pacifier; you are a Mom. You are the sun, the moon, the earth, you are liquid love, you are warmth, you are security, you are comfort in the very deepest aspect of the meaning of comfort.... but you are not a pacifier!" -- Paula Yount

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

The NICU doctors and nurses told me that. They said that after 30 minutes a preemie will use more calories then the milk contains and thus loose weight. It makes it like marathon running I guess, a lot of work for a preemie to do. Also, she's only been feeding via a bottle for about 2 weeks and is still almost a month from her due day, so she's still gaining strength which means if she wears herself out she can't feed.

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

Originally Posted by @llli*heatherh

The NICU doctors and nurses told me that. They said that after 30 minutes a preemie will use more calories then the milk contains and thus loose weight. It makes it like marathon running I guess, a lot of work for a preemie to do. Also, she's only been feeding via a bottle for about 2 weeks and is still almost a month from her due day, so she's still gaining strength which means if she wears herself out she can't feed.

Our nurses said the same thing. However, they were feeding via gavage at the time. They were worried about tiring due to sucking period, so if he wasn't doing well at finishing a feed, it went through the feeding tube. Once he was on the bottle, it didn't matter if he was on the bottle or the breast. The nurses always assumed that if he took the breast for 30 minutes, he got enough. (Also, out of curriosity, does she get a pacifier? This is the part that always confused me. He uses up too many calories to suck on the bottle, but he would be sucking on a pacifier while they fed him through the gavage. Go figure.)

Our journey with the tiring out ended when they finally found out he was anemic and started iron supplements. Also, an experience many have is that premies don't "wake up" until right around their due date. So it is normal for them to just sleep.

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

We were told to keep feedings to no more than 20 minutes. With my son, I eliminated bottles slowly, as I was terrified of him loosing weight and ending up back in the hospital. Once I could actually get him to latch, I rented a baby scale from a local pharmacy and weighed before and after he nursed, and did a nightly weight, and recorded it all. As those feedings went well, and he continued to gain weight well, I dropped more bottle feedings. I got to the point where we had a few bottles left in a day and decided to just stop the bottles and I nursed him often - whenever he seemed interested. I figured if he got tired so he nursed for a short time every hour then that was fine. It took us about 2 months to switch to exclusive breastfeeding, and honestly he gained weight much better the less bottles we did.

Let us know if you have any more questions!

Mommy to:

Emmalynn Marie
Born at 37 weeks on 12/22/06
5lbs 1oz 19 1/2in

Owen Charles
Born at 29 wks 6 days on 01/17/09
2lbs 14oz 15in
In NICU for 2 months

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

They told me that while I was in the hospital as well about burning calories. But I was told 15 minutes, lol. I can only laugh now b/c after I got home I disregarded that advice. The more I put baby on the breast the better we did. And she eventually started gaining weight well (now 7 weeks). In the beginning nursing would take us *at least* half an hour.

She was born between 2-3 weeks early and they say acting like 3 weeks early. Also too tired to nurse properly.

If you are working closely with a pedi or have a scale at home you may want to try disregarding the time limit for a couple of days to see how she does weight wise.

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

You know I looked up some resources trying to find where this calorie burning thing comes from. Most of what I read said that non-nutritive sucking is important to premature babies. So if anyone finds information that says where this calorie burning thing is coming from I'd love to read it.

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

Originally Posted by @llli*redpowerlady

You know I looked up some resources trying to find where this calorie burning thing comes from. Most of what I read said that non-nutritive sucking is important to premature babies. So if anyone finds information that says where this calorie burning thing is coming from I'd love to read it.

Non nutritive sucking is very beneficial for preemies, but not at the expense of their growth.

When you say that you baby was born 2 weeks early you mean 38 weeks? Totally no offense here mama, but 38 weeks and 32, 30, or 28 is very very different. Those babies, our babies, have to work harder to simply breathe. All of that burns calories, so yes, taking our son off the breast after a certain amount of time was what we were asked to do as well. Kangaroo care is also very important for them and doesn't tire them out.

Preemies also require more calories per kg of body weight than their full term counterparts to grow, so it is important to make the best use of all of them that we are able to give.

As for the OP question...are you doing kangaroo care? I did it topless a lot. Kangaroo care will also help stimulate you both, even when you can't nurse.

Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being ~ Kittie Frantz
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth ~ Albert Einstein
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma GandhiLooking for more information about vaccines?

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

Totally no offense here mama, but 38 weeks and 32, 30, or 28 is very very different.

but not at the expense of their growth.

Well I'll make this short b/c I don't want to sidetrack the thread. But I was clear about the difference between my experience and OP. I don't think I was saying there wasn't a difference. I would *never* suggest that someone do something that would harm their baby. I'm a bit offended by the comment as it makes it seem like I am ignorant to a very basic fact. So perhaps I'm an overtired hormonal new mom but heck that hurt my feelings and really I don't think it served a purpose. In fact it may have been better said in a PM or simply stating your point without having to say something that starts with "no offense".

Re: 28 weeker tires easily

Originally Posted by @llli*redpowerlady

Well I'll make this short b/c I don't want to sidetrack the thread. But I was clear about the difference between my experience and OP. I don't think I was saying there wasn't a difference. I would *never* suggest that someone do something that would harm their baby. I'm a bit offended by the comment as it makes it seem like I am ignorant to a very basic fact. So perhaps I'm an overtired hormonal new mom but heck that hurt my feelings and really I don't think it served a purpose. In fact it may have been better said in a PM or simply stating your point without having to say something that starts with "no offense".

No need to take offense mama. But you did post links to why non nutritive sucking is important, which seemed to question what other preemie moms on here had said about the advice of the doctor. Did I read that wrong? Maybe.

All I am trying to say is that as a mom of a 32 weeker that was born not breathing, getting calories into him to grow was a lot more important to me than non nutritive sucking. And 38 week babies are just different than <34...they just are. It doesn't have to offend you or hurt your feelings, it just is. And that was my point.

Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being ~ Kittie Frantz
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth ~ Albert Einstein
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma GandhiLooking for more information about vaccines?